Sita's Agni Pariksha
Sita's agnipariksha is a favorite episode for many Indian leftists to deride the uttama purusha of Bharatvarsha, Shri Ramachandra as a mysogynist. Unfortunately, while they use a modern western lenses selectively on Hindu themes and stories, most of them either do not know Sanskrit, have not read Ramayana, or they simply have known Ramayana through secondary sources that are compromised in their intent. While much of this poor scholarship remains alive due to the collective ignorance and apathy of the Hindus, it also true that in post colonial India, stories pertaining to gender inequality seem to corroborate perverted interpretations of Sanskrit itihasas. While the stories are true, as Veena Talwar Oldenberg explains, the reasons are largely buried in a dark colonial past: "It was also these twin features of colonial revenue collecting that made the British "civilizing mission" a travesty, driving tillers to debt and finally separation from their land, condemning ...
